As long as I can remember, our daughter was drawing. When she was 12 or 13 she was filling books with drawings of elegant ladies in Victorian costumes. Some of the poses reflected her ballet lessons. I was able to save a lot of the pictures and recently found a way to incorporate them into a Birthday gift to her.

I scanned six of her drawings, reduced the size and moved them onto a clear background. I found blank water slide decal sheets and printed the images. I transferred them to a section of a music box I was making. The base, top and lid of the box are maple (8 staves) and the center part is cherry, painted and stippled to resemble stoneware. After the decals set I finished the part with a clear lacquer, then assembled the sections.

It was really fun to work with these 40 year old images - preserving a child's imagination.

I used the picresize app and it worked for two of the images. The other one (same original size) just reduced to colored blobs. After three attempts I gave up. I wish there was an easier way to post pictures.

I finished the painted segment with gloss (Rustoleum). Decals work best on a glossy surface. After the decals are applied and dry I top coat with more Gloss finish. If anyone would like to use this technique I would advise using Krylon rather than Rustoleum. The latter sprays on very heavy and will run if not applied carefully. A heavy coat also tends to lift the edges of the decals. I used Testor's decal paper (transparent) that is available from hobby shops or Amazon.